Typical computing devices are configured physically and with user interfaces that support only one manner of operation, including just one set of user interface components configured in a single particular manner. This arises from a presumption that an operator of a computing device chooses a computing device that befits their desired manner of operation (e.g., a desktop to be operated at a desk, set-top box to be operated from across a room, a handheld portable to be operated while carried in a hand, etc.) and is highly unlikely to ever seek to change it.
As a result, graphical user interfaces for computing devices are invariably designed to support only one configuration of interaction. Although it is often possible for an operator of a computing device to “customize” aspects of its user interface, those customizations become part of what remains just a single manner of interaction. No opportunity is afforded in typical “setup” or “configuration” menus to create or alter configurations for multiple configurations of interaction.
The effective result is that an operator is required to adopt whatever single way of interaction that the computing device has been configured to support. More specifically, where a computing device is configured to support operation as a desktop computing device, its operator is expected to accommodate that one manner of interaction by always sitting at a desk to use it as such. No accommodation is made in the physical configuration of that computing device or in its user interface for a user who wants to interact with it in different ways at different times, e.g., sometimes while sitting at the desk and sometimes while physically away from it and that desk.